


Dawn Breaks

by cosmicrhetoric



Series: The Colors of the Sky [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Jily Royalty Fest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-14
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 19:24:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1953186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicrhetoric/pseuds/cosmicrhetoric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily, Muggle royalty, has been getting trained in magic since she was eleven, but has never visited the mysterious kingdom of witches and wizards that her tutors come from. Upon completion of her training, she’s invited to stay in their palace for one month. Lily takes to the castle and the people fabulously, until the crown prince decides that humiliating her in front of the entire court is a good idea.</p><p>He has hell to pay.</p><p>[written for jily royalty fest]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dawn Breaks

It was a little silly, but the tower was her favorite place to be at night. The sky was clear up there, and Lily could see for miles. During the day, the kingdom looked vibrant and full of life, and she loved that, but there was something about the quiet stillness that  she reveled in. The moon was to her back that night, bathing the small village past the castle grounds in silver light. Somehow, it was even more illuminating than sunlight.

She used to come here with her sister when she was young, with Sev too sometimes, when he could sneak away. Petunia didn’t like the moon like Lily did, but she obliged her sister for a few minutes before sneaking back to her friends in the garden. But Severus, he stayed with her for  _hours_. He said that he liked the night much better than the day too, and if she wanted, he could meet with her every day here. Lily, despite wanting this with all her heart, refused. If the guards caught them together, she might never be able to go to the tower again. Or worse, she might never see Sev again, she couldn’t deal with that. They would meet in the village once a week or so, and they would play and talk, and life would be good.

Lily  _owed_  Severus. Sev was the one who told her she was a witch, though she hadn’t believed him for years. After all, no one was magic in their kingdom, and she was the princess. It was the land to the west that was full of wizards and witches and even  _dragons_ , according to Sev. But after a particularly nasty bout of accidental magic(Petunia’s dress was in  _shambles_ ), she was forced to accept the truth. Unfortunately for the two of them, her parents noticed as well. Now, the King and Queen loved their daughters, and they were aware of the very slight possibility of Lily actually being a witch, so they did what they could. They contacted the land to the west, and soon a representative was sent to train the young Princess. This was the best situation Lily could have foreseen, but everytime she tried talking to Sev about what Professor McGonagall taught her, he mumbled something about needing to get home. It was a little off putting, and by the time she turned fourteen, she didn’t see Sev at all anymore. Lily checked, once, a year ago, and he and his father had moved far away.

That was three years ago now, but even losing her best friend couldn’t put a damper on seeing the tower’s magnificent view. Lily figured she should go to bed soon, she had a long day tomorrow, but it would be a while before she could return to her tower. She would be leaving her castle the next day for an entire month-Professor McGonagall had insisted Lily at least visit the other kingdom, and her parents immediately agreed. Honestly, Lily was excited too. She had never met another witch or wizard besides the professor before, but this castle was the only place she had ever lived. Homesickness was probably going to happen. 

And between Petunia’s scoffing and her parents simultaneously smothering her and telling her to go and get betrothed already, Lily would miss the tower most of all.

* * *

 

McGonagall brought her to Hogwarts Castle through Side-Along Apparation, and Lily vowed to take a carriage back, it was so unpleasant.

The castle looked…like a castle. It honestly wasn’t much different from the one at home, just bigger and with more turrets. Lily wasn’t sure what she expected, sparks or firecrackers or something. But McGonagall gave her a small smile and gestured, and so Lily walked forward with some semblance of confidence. The gates opened on their own, there it was, thought Lily. It was likely the staffing was reduced because of how much magic was used on a daily basis. She found it efficient-back home, three men would have needed to tug the gates open, and those were three more men to pay for their services.

"Now remember." said McGonagall. "You cannot Apparate or Disapparate inside the caste, so if you need to go anywhere, you must come to me."

"It’s not like I can Apparate anyway." said Lily, amused. "Speaking of…"

"You’re to young to learn, Lily." admonished McGonagall. "Your Highness, the luggage?"

"Right!" said Lily, suddenly eager. She removed her wand from a small pouch at her waist and pointed it to the pile of luggage where they had Apparated in. " _Accio luggage_.”

The boxes all came flying over, and neatly settled into a pile at Lily’s feet.

"Good form." said McGonagall."But you can stand to relax your shoulders during the twist in the wand movement. And now?"

Lily nodded. “ _Wingardium Leviosa.”_ The truck hovered at her waist, and as she began to walk inside the castle, followed her wand. McGonagall led the way, and Lily tried to follow without falling too far behind. The passageways were winding, and much more confusing than in her own home. McGonagall, however, brought her to a huge pair of double doors, and raised her hand to knock.

"Drop the bags here, Your Highness. I’m to show you to the king in the Great Hall before we settle you into your room." 

Lily nodded, ending the Charm. McGonagall knocked thrice on the doors and waited a beat before pushing them open with magic. 

The Hall wasn’t empty as Lily had hoped. Courtiers and nobles of all sorts stood at attention, all eyes fixed on her. Lily, however, was looking nervously at the massive man on the throne. He had dark hair, cut a lot shorter than was the current fashion, though it was more gray than black now. He looked stern, or maybe that was just the effect he cut in the heavy crown and dark velvet cloak. Lily had seen her share of kings, her father was one, and she had thought she wouldn’t be impressed by one more. This man, however, proved her wrong. The woman next to him was striking in her own right. Her hair was a dark brown, also streaked with gray, and she was scrutinizing Lily with a very powerful gaze. 

McGonagall stepped forward. “Your Majesty, I present Princess Lily.”

The king raised an eyebrow as Lily hastened to curtsy, She froze under his gaze, her hands balling up in her skirts before he let out a wide smile. “You are welcome in our hall and our home, Princess Lily. We are privileged to have you here.”

His voice was neither as deep or as terrifying as she had originally thought. Lily blushed, she couldn’t help it. The queen also smiled, but hers was laced with more humor rather than simple, good natured joy. “You gave a us quiet a scare, Princess.” she said. “A Muggle princess as a witch? It was a potential nightmare, but Minerva tells us that you are a diligent student, and that magic couldn’t have chosen a better girl.’

"Thank you for your hospitality." said Lily politely. She couldn’t help a smile. 

The queen smiled back. “Of course, dear. Minerva, do you mind taking the Princess up to her room?”

"Of course not." said McGonagall. "We have a lesson to get to anyway."

Lily nodded as the king laughed.”Diligent indeed!” he said as she curtsied once more before trailing after Professor McGonagall.

* * *

 

They had a quick Transfiguration theory lesson( _not_  Lily’s favorite at all) before McGonagall left, saying that she had duties to be fulfilled. There would be a banquet for Lily’s arrival at seven sharp, but until then she could do as she pleased.

What she pleased wasn’t exploring, not on the first day. No, Lily just dug up a book and curled up on her bed until she was supposed to get ready for dinner. Time passed easily-she was comfortable here, somehow. Lily didn’t feel like she ‘fit in’, but she was at least comfortable. Perhaps homesickness wouldn’t be such a problem after all. It was maybe a half hour until she needed to get up and get dressed when Lily heard a loud  _bang!_  out in the corridor. She rushed out the door, grabbing her wand and throwing the door open only to find a short blond boy planted face first in front of the room next to hers.

"Oh my-are you alright?" she asked, helping the boy up. 

He groaned and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah-fine, sorry.” 

Lily took a step back. He looked like a noble, at least he dresses like one. “I’m Lily.”

That made the boy look up. “You’re that Muggle princess, right?”

"Yeah, that’s me. And you?"

"Peter, Peter Pettigrew."

"Oi, Pete!" came a cry down the hall. Both Lily and Peter turned to find a well dressed man with dark hair jogging towards them. "You must have skid  _miles_ , how did you even get here? Sorry mate, I didn’t realize you would-“

"It’s alright, Sirius." said Peter wearily. "This is why you should have let Remus  _test_  it first before-“

"Oh, that would have been boring." The man-Sirius-finally seemed to notice Lily. "Who’re you?"

"Lily. Hi." she said, becoming increasingly wary of these men. Whatever they were doing sounded dangerous and she should probably not get involved. 

Sirius started. “Oh, so  _you’re_  that Muggle princess.” 

Lily was starting to get a little put out by that identifier. 

"I’m Sirius Black, and this is Pete. This is good, our friend Remus wanted to meet you. He should be along any moment, I’m just a faster runner than he is."

Her eyes widened. “Sorry, what was your name?”

Sirius’s features soured. “Right, you’re from the Muggle kingdom. Yeah, I’m related to  _those_  Blacks.”

The Black family was infamous for Muggle baiting and Dark magic, even in Lily’s kingdom. Children were told not to stay out long, lest the Blacks gt to them. That Sirius was related to them was not a positive sign.

"But Sirius is alright." said Peter. "He’s not like his family, he doesn’t even live down in Slytherin."

"I was disowned." explained Sirius, that sour, bitter look still on his face. "Brilliant, isn’t it?"

Lily shook her head. “I’m sure the king and queen wouldn’t let anyone affiliated with that kind of magic to live here, don’t worry about any prejudices from me. I am Muggle- sort of. And, sorry, but what’s Slytherin?”

Sirius brightened immediately. “Oh, you don’t know? It’s like unofficial names for the different states in the kingdom, called Houses. We’re in the northeast, we live in Gryffindor. To the west is Ravenclaw, and the southern areas are divided into Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Trust me, all the berks live in Slytherin.”

Lily smiled. “Oh, I see. I had a magical friend when I was younger, he said he moved from one of those. I’m pretty sure it was Slytherin, actually, but I’m not sure.”

Both Sirius and Peter’s eyebrows went up. Lily chose to ignore it. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to meet your friend later, I should probably get dressed for dinner. First impressions, and all.”

They nodded. “Sure.” said Peter. “We’ll see you at the banquet, then? You’ll probably be seated near us anyway, we’re always near the royal family.”

"Hopefully." said Lily, before smiling and crossing back over to her still open door.

* * *

 

She wore green, it was her best color. Lily figured she should have chosen red(the moment she got back into her room, Lily read up on all the Houses and their color affiliations), but the thought of what it would do to her hair was a bit much. Because of how utterly amazing she looked in that color(she liked green very much), Lily tied her hair back simply, and didn’t bother with jewelry or heavy face paint. Like she said, first impressions were important to her, but some things could be done without the extra work.

When Lily exited her room, however, trying to keep her skirts from bunching up, she came face to face with another young man who seemed to be waiting for her. “Can I help you?”

The man looked up. “Are you Princess Lily?”

He was handsome, she realized, with dark hair and very nice eyes. “I am, and you?”

"Oh, I’m Remus. Sirius and Peter said you met, they, uh, insisted I escort you to the Great Hall. I wouldn’t have, I mean this itself is incredibly rude, but then the queen overheard and she approved and I’m so sorry-"

"It’s alright." said Lily, starting to grin. "I am fine with being escorted to the Great Hall, mostly because I am pretty sure I’m going to get lost on my own."

He relaxed, and they started walking. “Yes, it is pretty convoluted if you haven’t lived here your entire life, I suppose.” 

Lily nodded. “So, Sirius mentioned you wanted to meet me?”

"Oh, yes, I wanted to ask about what your schooling was like."

She tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

"I know that McGonagall wasn’t always with you for these years, cause she was here from time to time. And that means you self studied for at least a little bit, and self studying magic is hard."

"It was challenging at first, but I was pretty willing to learn." said Lily. "And she always brought tons of books for me, so I was almost always occupied."

Remus nodded. “So, what’s your favorite, then? Your favorite subject?”

"Oh, either Charms or Arithmancy. Or Ancient Runes, actually, and I’ve always been partial to Potions-"

He laughed. “Let me rephrase, what don’tyou like?”

"Transfiguration is my worst." admitted Lily. 

"So you’re bad at Transfiguration, but good at Arithmancy? How does that make any sense at all?"

Lily shrugged. “It’s the theory I have issues with. The practical is just like Charms.”

"I can understand that." said Remus. He led her into the large, open antechamber Lily had been in before. The double doors to the Great Hall were open, and as they walked in together, Remus pointed to the ceiling. Lily looked up and gasped-it looked like a thousand stars, like an open night! It must have been enchanted to look like the sky above the hall somehow, but Lily had never seen an incantation that could be used for such a large amount of space. Candles floated on their own every few feet, perhaps a meter above their heads.

“It’s beautiful.” Lily whispered. Remus smiled.

“Sirius and Peter are over there.” he said, steering them to where Sirius could be seen discretely charming his wine different colors. He looked up as they arrived, beaming a smile so wide Lily worried for his cheeks.

“Moony! Did you ask her all of your scholar’s questions?”

While Lily mouthed ‘Moony’ in confusion, Remus laughed. “You’re more of a scholar than I am, Sirius, how many women have you won over with your fluent French?”

“And Greek, and Latin,  _and_  Italian.” said Sirius, nodding. “Don’t sell me short.”

“I envy you, then.” said Lily. “I had a governess when I was younger, but she could barely speak English properly.”

She immediately cursed her thoughtlessness. Most noble families learned older or romance languages from a young age, it was safe to assume this was all mandated through the family he was disowned from. Lily opened her mouth to apologize, but Sirius spoke first.

“A governess sounds terrible.” he said. “I’m new to languages, however, I only just started studying them in detail.”

“Proving my point.” said Remus. “Where’s James, Peter?”

Peter rolled his eyes.”I don’t know his whereabouts every minute of the day.”

“The queen wants him to make an entrance.” said Sirius. “He’ll be entering before her.”

“That’s too bad, he should meet Lily.”

“I assume they’re seated next to each other.” said Sirius. “And Grace knows better than to seat us away from each other, so we should be able to make introductions.”

“Grace- _the queen?_ ” asked Lily, shocked at his informality.

“Gracie’s like my own mother,” said Sirius. “She took me in, I’m allowed to call her by her first name.”

“Aren’t most children vehemently opposed to calling their parents by their first name?” Lily quipped. “So, then who’s James?”

All three men stared at her. “Seriously?” asked Sirius in a flat tone of voice. “I’d be making a joke right now, but  _seriously_?”

“She’s not from here, Sirius.” said Remus. “She wouldn’t know.”

“Prince James.” said Sirius. “As in future-king-of-this-kingdom Prince James.”

Lily clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh my gosh I-I didn’t even know the king and queen had a son!”

“That’s your first problem there.” said Peter. “James is our best friend.”

Lily nodded, still mortified. That explained all the talk of them sitting next to the royal family at dinner, then. “And, er,I suppose he’s our age?”

Sirius raised an eyebrow.”Depends. How old are you, Lily flower?”

“Oh, don’t call me that.” said Lily. “I’m seventeen.”

He nodded. “All of us-except Remus, the youngling- are eighteen, so yes. That counts as ‘our’ age.”

Remus looked past Lily to the slowly filling hall. “We should probably sit down.” he said. “Or we’ll be the only nobles standing.”

She murmured her assent, and the four of them all climbed the single step to the High Table, where the royal family and it’s closest courtiers sat. Lily was in fact placed a seat down from the queen, with Sirius on her left and Peter and Remus across from her. The empty seat separating her from the queen, Lily supposed, was meant for James. The king and queen made their entrance, accompanied by fanfare, and they smiled and sat down graciously. Lily noted a hint of strain on the queen’s face, however. Wasn’t the Prince meant to enter before his parents? When she turned to Sirius to ask, however, the man seemed too strained. He exchanged a look with Remus, who nodded grimly.

It wasn’t her business, Lily knew that, but it was so hard not being nosy in a country she knew nothing about. Still, she kept quiet on the matter of the absent prince, for the chair next to her remained empty all until dessert. While servants were placing massive puddings in front of the diners, Lily struck up a conversation with Remus about what she had just read on House rivalry, and he proceeded to explain to her how it all started. Peter and Sirius, were listening in, either adding in points(Peter) or making jokes(Sirius). She was just discussing how the Muggle kingdom also had it’s sectors when she heard Sirius hiss a short “ _James!_ ”

She turned immediately, trying to catch a glimpse of the man who had neglected half of dinner. The prince had the king’s dark hair and stature, but he seemed to favor his mother. His hazel eyes were behind square spectacles, something Lily found odd. She rarely ever saw glasses at home, among the people who could afford them, and couldn’t magic be used to fix eyesight? Still, he was handsome enough, she supposed.

She heard the queen mutter a, “Nice of you to make an appearance.” before figuring it was time to introduce herself.

“Hello,” she said, smiling at him. He was barely looking at her, for some reason. The prince removed his wand. “I’m Lil-”

He exploded a pudding into her face.

Lily stared at him in shock, cream and god knows what else dripping down her face and her hair. She blinked once, and found that her eyelashes were nearly cemented together. Silence fell on the hall as all eyes turned to the pudding covered princess and her attacker, looking bored and twirling his wand between his fingers. Shock and disbelief slowly faded from Lily’s eyes, to be quickly replaced with rage.

“You-”

Whatever venomous insult was about to fall out of her mouth was cut short by Queen Grace’s towering anger. “James, what have you done? Apologize, immediately.”

James shrugged. Lily waited with bated breath, thankful that the queen had interrupted her. If she disgraced herself in front of the court, that would be bad. Sirius stood as James said a quick, nonchalant “Sorry.” before pocketing his wand.

How dare he be so casual! She was literally covered in pudding! Sirius seemed to recognize the danger as Lily swelled up with rage, and he whispered something in the prince’s ear before taking him by the shoulder and quickly leaving the hall. The queen’s eyes turned sympathetic as she looked at Lily.

“I’m so sorry dear, I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Here-let someone escort you back to your room so you can get cleaned up.”

“I’ll do it, Grace.” said Remus quickly. “Lily, come on.”

Lily stood, and was even more embarrassed to see that her gown, her lovely green gown was soaked with milk and cream. It was unusable. Remus took her slightly sticky arm and walked her out, but not before telling Peter to “Go after them!”.

She was silent until they left the antechamber. As soon as they were out of sight, however, Lily yanked her arm from Remus, pulled out her wand and cast a Cleaning Charm on her face and hair. She undid her hair, and let it fall in her face before rounding on her escort.

“What was that? What just happened?”

A little surprised at her anger, Remus looked at a loss for what to do. “I have honestly no idea. James was a little opposed to you coming here, but I never thought-”

“He thinks he’s  _better_  than me, doesn’t he? Just because I’m Muggleborn, that’s why!”

“No, Lily, James has  _never_  cared about blood status, he wouldn’t-”

She gave a short scream of frustration before tugging at her dress. “ _Scourgify_  isn’t going to get this out. God, what is  _wrong_  with him?”

“Lily.” said Remus, trying to be firm. He put an arm around her shoulder and steered her towards her room. “I think it’s best if we-”

As they rounded a corner, they came face to face with a strange sight; Sirius had both his hands on James’s shoulders and was speaking to him in a low voice as Peter looked on. Lily stopped dead, and Sirius swore as he saw her.

Lily folded her arms. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

He was finally looking at her, the idiot, but now his eyes seemed fixed up on her face. Lily couldn’t feel anything but an insurmountable anger and the smooth wood of her willow wand pressed into her palm.

“Hey, um, Princess.” said Sirius weakly. “We were just- we should go-”

She may have lost it a little. Lily didn’t even think as her wand snapped up and she shot a maroon jet of sparks directly into Prince James’ stomach. He gave a strangled gasp and doubled over. Satisfied, Lily walked straight past them and into her chambers, but not before slamming the door.

Lily pulled off her heavy over dress and tossed in onto a chair, and without washing her face or hanging up her shift, went straight to bed.

* * *

 

Mornings were beautiful in this kingdom. Especially from her room, which faced east so that she could literally watch the sun rise. It was completely worth it.

What it was  _not_  worth was the humiliation of last night, Lily thought grimly. She rose early, washed all the remaining pudding from her hair, and donned a simple dress, lest anything explode on her today. Professor McGonagall said that she would have to day to explore, so Lily immediately set out to find the library. Hogwarts was incredibly convoluted, but there was always people to ask, and they were always happy to help. Within no time, Lily had secured a table at the world renowned Hogwarts Library, and began looking for some advanced Charms work. There was a woman, a caretaker, called Madame Pince who promised that she’d help find anything difficult, and because Lily had the habit of endearing herself to anyone older than she, brought her back a stack of several interesting books. Lily chose one at random and started at page one.

She had been reading for a little over an hour when she heard someone drop into the chair in front of hers.

"Hello, Sirius." said Lily, without looking up.

"Hey, Princess." he replied. "Nice jinx last night."

"Oh, was it? I wasn’t sure, my vision was obstructed by violet pudding." Lily turned a page.

Sirius sighed. “I’m not sure what went down last night, to be honest. It was pretty out of character for him to just, um, explode food on you. Maybe when he was twelve, but…”

"That’s what Remus said." said Lily. "Thankfully for you, I no longer care. All I want to do is stay far away from Prince James."

Sirius was quiet for a while. “What did you hit him with anyway? I’ve never seen that spell before.”

Lily smiled. “I’m proud of that one, it was the first jinx I ever engineered.” Sev had helped her. “It simulates menstrual cramps.”

Sirius pushed his chair back so far from her he nearly toppled over. He had gone white, and Lily couldn’t hold back a laugh. “You  _made a curse up that does that_?”

"I did.’ said Lily. "I’ve always been good at Charms."

"Man, I thought you were a  _lady_ , Lily flower.”

"Don’t call me that." said Lily automatically. "And I am a lady, we all have to deal with it every month. I just…have anger issues."

"I’ll say. That’s downright evil, though, it’s inspired. I reckon I like you a little more now, Princess."

"I’m sorry I can’t say the same for you." said Lily. "I kind of hate everyone in this castle a little more now, after last night."

He shrugged.”That’s to be expected. James  _is_  sorry, Lily. He is.”

"He should be, after the curse I hit him with." said Lily. "I didn’t buy his apology at dinner last night."

"I think he was trying to get a rise out of Gracie." said Sirius."They haven’t been getting along lately."

"Then he should have exploded pudding all over her." Lily stopped. "No, I didn’t mean that."

Sirius grinned. “I know you didn’t. Look, are you going to stay in here all day, or do you want to see the castle?”

Lily frowned. She wasn’t anywhere near done with her first book. “Do you think Madame Pince will keep this separate for me until I get back to them?”

"Yeah, if she likes you. Which she must." said Sirius. He jumped out of his chair. "Come on, then!"

Lily laughed as he pulled her out of her seat and dragged her out to the grounds. “Where are we going?”

"The greenhouses.You seem like a flower kind of person to me, Princess."

He pulled her down to a large, glass covered garden. What he was probably not expecting was Remus and James, leaning against one of the glass walls and talking. Sirius slowed to a stop, and immediately let go of Lily’s hand. “Ah.”

Remus glanced up at them and paled. James raised an eyebrow, before echoing Lily from last night. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Her own eyebrows moved infinitesimally upward. Sirius rolled his eyes. “Right, well this was going to happen sooner or later. Go on, then, Prongs.”

James- Prongs?- stepped forward, looking sheepish. “I’m sorry I exploded pudding on you.” he said. For some reason, Lily believed he was being genuine this time. But then he nodded at her, waiting for her reply.

"What?" asked Lily. "Do you expect me to apologize as well? Because I was provoked."

James glared. “Yes, but whatever you hit me with was-well, honestly, it was worse than a bloody pudding!”

"Yes, but I didn’t give you menstrual cramps in front of the entire court." said Lily icily. James turned white and recoiled. 

"Menst-!"

Remus stepped forward. “Lily, you’re going to be here for a month. Trust me when I say that it is better to make peace now.”

"I’m honestly not interested in peace." said Lily. "At least not until I get an explanation."

James turned stony. “No, thank you.”

"Fine." said Lily. "I have books to attend to." she turned on her heel and went straight back the way she came. No one stopped her.

* * *

 

"That was a pretty crappy thing to do, mate." said Sirius to James as he sat up against the greenhouse wall. James and Remus slid to sit next to him. 

"I did apologize." said James weakly. He sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"Then why’d you do it?"

James looked straight ahead.”You know my mom, right?”

"Yes, we know Grace." said Remus.

"Well, we haven’t really been too, well, we haven’t been on good terms lately. You guys have noticed, Pete even asked me about it."

Sirius cursed. “Damn Pete. We were supposed to pretend we didn’t know.”

James shot him a grin before continuing. “The thing is, she’s been trying to get me married, and I haven’t really wanted that to happen, so…”

He didn’t need to finish. Sirius and Remus understood. “You’re saying,” said Remus, “That  _Lily_  was supposed to be your wife?”

“I don’t know!” said James. “But think about it, she’s a witch with ties to the Muggle kingdom, and we’ve always been shaky when it comes to them. And she’s a princess. When mother just went and asked her to stay, I knew that something was up. She probably doesn’t even know.”

“You’re right.”said Sirius. “Oh god, I can’t even imagine you getting married.”

“Sirius, stop it.” admonished Remus. “Still, was a pudding necessary?”

“Now she doesn’t like me. She’d never agree to marry me now.” said James. He paused for a beat. “She’s really pretty, isn’t she?”

Sirius froze, alarmed, and slowly turned to face James. “Prongs. Prongs, no.”

“No, what?”

“No, you are  _not_  deciding that you fancy the girl you just made sure wouldn’t like you. There are other pretty girls, Prongs!”

“I never said I fancy her, Padfoot, calm down. That would be counterproductive.” said James, laughing. “I know that there are other pretty girls. But that hex really was something.”

“She invented it.” said Sirius weakly.

“Really? That’s kind of amazing.”

Remus covered his face with his hands and groaned. “James, you’re actually the worst person I know. I want you to know that.”

“Don’t worry, Moony. I already do.”

* * *

 

For dinner that night, Lily was tempted to select a less expensive dress, just in case it was smashed with food again. But no, she thought, as an act of defiance, fearlessness, she would go wearing silk tonight. Her dark blue silks would do nicely, they made her hair and her eyes stand out beyond compare. Lily painstakingly applied face paint and completed the look with a heavy necklace. She was going to look stunning tonight, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

When she exited her chambers, she found Prince James waiting for her, much as Remus had done the night before.

“Hello.” he said, bowing. “My name is James.”

“You’re trying to get a clean slate, then?” said Lily. She walked on ahead. James caught up easily.

“That is what I was supposed to do last night.” he said. “Just wanted to let you know.”

“Why do you care?” asked Lily. “You made it very clear that you were okay with us not talking.”

“I didn’t mean to come across as rude.”

“Well, you did.” said Lily, not sure what to make of this new eagerness. This was the absolute opposite of how he was acting this morning and last night.

“I know, I’m sorry.” said James again. “You look really nice, by the way.”

 _That_ was unexpected. Lily stopped and turned to him, trying to figure out his game without blushing. “Yes, I know, thanks.”

“Though you look older with your hair up.” continued James.”And you weren’t wearing so much rogue yesterday-”

This time she did blush but more in surprise than anything. Lily started walking again, shaking her head. “I had no idea you were so interested in such things, Your Highness.”

“I’m not interested, just observant.” said James. “And you can call me James, you know.”

“That wouldn’t be appropriate.” said Lily. “Also, I don’t want to.”

James shrugged. “Petty.”

“Did you just call me petty?” asked Lily, frowning.

“I just mean that it’s slightly petty to judge me on solely one thing. I’m making an effort, I swear.”

“That sole thing that I’m judging you on was kind of a big thing.” Lily shot back. “If anyone’s petty, it’s you.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re the one who’s suddenly interested in getting me back in a good mood, and you attack me for being cautious about it. I said three words to you, Your Highness, less. What did you judge me on, last night?”

James stopped, stricken, and Lily curtsied. ‘We’ve arrived, then, thank you for the escort.” she said, before sweeping into the hall.

James stood, uncertain, until Sirius came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. “How did that go?”

“Sirius?”

“Yes, mate?”

“I think I fancy her.”

* * *

 

They didn’t speak at dinner. Queen Grace hadn’t changed the seating arrangements, and so it was awkward for James to lean over Lily to speak to Sirius, often at the same time Lily was trying to talk to him as well. Remus and Peter carefully monitored the conversation topics, changing the subject if James and Lily ended up speaking in high, false voices about matters with clear double meanings. For example:

Lily leaned across the table. “Wow, Sirius, I am impressed with the whole language thing, and especially considering that you started so recently.”

Sirius nodded. “Yeah, I-”

“Oh, yeah, Padfoot, you only started learning so you could bag women, right?” James cut across. Lily’s smile became rather fixed.

“That’s…about right.” said Sirius warily.

“Well, at least you go through wholesome means to try and, er, attract women. You know, rather than resorting to name calling and juvenile actions to get a girl’s attention.” said Lily.

James bristled. “But it’s got to be difficult, you know, if you meet a girl who gets worked up over every single thing.”

“You know, Sirius, it’s good that you have an appropriate sense of what’s a big deal and what isn’t, you know what I mean?” said Lily, patting Sirius on the arm.

James opened his mouth to retaliate, but Peter jumped in. “So, the Cannons lost last week.”

They all stopped, and looked at him. “Well, obviously.” said James. “The Cannons always lose.”

“Um, sorry.” said Lily. “The Cannons?”

James lit up next to her, so much that she was forced to acknowledge him. “You’ve never seen Quidditch!”

Lily shook her head. “Oh, are the Cannons a team? I’ve read about the sport, but-”

“Yes, they’re called the Chudley Cannons,and they’re awful.” said James, all animosity gone. “You’ll want to see a good team play, like the Wombats, or hey, the Holy-Head Harpies. You’d like the Harpies, they’re the only all-female team in the league. They’re very good, too.”

“There are female Quidditch players?” gasped Lily. She couldn’t help a small smile. “Yes, I do like that, very much.”

“We have some time tomorrow.” said Remus. “We can take you flying, if you want. James and Sirius are very good.”

Lily paled. “I’ve never even thought- McGonagall offered, but that was years ago, I never thought about learning to fly.”

Sirius laughed. “Minnie’s a Quidditch fanatic.” he said. “She must have been put out when you didn’t ask for lessons.”

“I didn’t realize it meant so much to her.” said Lily.”I’d like to learn, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” said James enthusiastically. Lily’s smile dropped as she realized that she had a proper conversation with him, but she shook her head,and just asked him about the different positions.

* * *

 

Flying was awful and she was terrible at it and that was never happening again.

It was terrifying, controlling a broom that was the only thing separating her from a hundred foot drop. The only time Lily had fun was when she rode with Sirius or James. Sirius was nice about it, he took her around a lap of the field behind the castle, but James was a nightmare. As soon as she got on the back of his broom, he hurtled into a dive at breakneck speed, completely ignoring her screams of terror(it was a little fun).

They let her down gently, though, and she spent more of the afternoon laughing than not.

Between the Marauders(gosh, it was  _such_  a silly nickname, but Sirius and Remus told it to her with the most stoic faces) and the library and fancy dinners, Lily barely noticed when two weeks had gone. Sirius insisted on throwing a ‘Half Way Through Lily Day(s)’ party in her chambers that involved the five of them and alcohol.

He handed her a bottle to start them off, and she looked dubiously at it. “Um, I’ve never had anything but watered down wine before. This probably isn’t such a good idea.”

“Oh come on, we won’t tell Gracie.” said Sirius. “Right, James?”

“My mother will never know.” he said solemnly.

Lily laughed, and took a swing. It burned down her throat, but made her stomach a little warm inside. “It’s good,” she said, surprised. “I thought alcohol was supposed to be awful, and that’s why macho men force themselves to drink it to prove dominance.”

All four boys burst into laughter. James stood. “Come on, we can’t get drunk in a girl’s room. I know a place, let’s go.”

They followed him though what felt like a million spiral staircases, until James finally pushed open a heavy stone door to a large expanse of stars. Lily gasped, much as she did when she saw the Great Hall, but this was different. This was real. He had brought them to a tower.

“We used to study Astronomy here.” James said quietly to Lily, as the other three Marauders got settled. “I still come up here sometimes, for the view. It’s my favorite place in the castle.”

Lily looked at him then, and maybe it was just a culmination of two weeks worth of _not_ , but there was something there. Something deep in her stomach, something that seemed to float up into her chest and made it difficult to breathe. “It’s lovely up here.” she said, before looking away hastily. Lily took a seat next to Peter, trying to school her pulse. Remus was the not the only one who noticed.

“Astronomy was a terrible subject.” said Peter. “Lily, did you ever study it?”

“McGonagall gave me a few star charts, but no. I never gt the chance. It’s not really up my alley, I like looking at the stars. I don’t think I’d like to know what they’re made of. It takes the mystery away from it all.”

Sirius tossed the bottle again. “Drink up, Lily flower, tonight is in your honor.”

Lily laughed, and took another drink. “Well, it sure beats the first one.” she said, shooting James a look. He reddened. “Do you lot drink with every girl that visits the palace?”

“No, you’d be the first.” said Remus. “We’re exclusive.”

“I’m flattered.” she said, and she really was.

“You should be.” said Sirius. “Now give me the firewhiskey back.”

She tossed it at him, and thus began a circle of drinking. The bottle had been charmed to hold much more than it seemed, and it took until the early hours of the morning for them to finish it. Peter was passed out, so was Sirius, and Remus was trying very hard to go to sleep and failing. Lily had never felt more awake. James might have been the drunkest one there, but for some reason, he was acting the most sober. She was sitting next to him on the ledge, an it would have terrified her if she had her wits about her. But for now, she was swinging her legs. James tossed the empty bottle out into the sky, and Lily laughed.

“If that hits a watchman-”

He joined her laughing, and Lily leaned on him for support. That  _something_  was back, but she was too drunk to notice it. Or care.

James stopped laughing suddenly, and the air grew heavy. Lily looked up at him. “James? What’s wrong?”

He took a deep breath. “I have to tell you something.”

She nodded for him to continue.

“Remember the night you came here, with the, um, pudding incident?”

“How could I forget?” said Lily dryly. James didn’t smile.

“I wouldn’t have done it, but I thought it was my only option.”

“James, I-”

“No, Lily, I got to get this out. My mother and I,we had been fighting. She wanted me to get married and secure a spot for a heir, you know. I’m the only kid my parents have, I’m the only one they  _can_  have. My mom had some…complications. So I’m Crown Prince and I should have acted like it. But I didn’t. I was childish, and I refused to get betrothed. My mom dropped the subject for a little bit, but then I hear she’s inviting a girl my age, a Muggleborn princess with powerful political ties and powerful magical ability, and all I can think about was if this girl was supposed to be my-”

“James,” said Lily. “You know that’s not why I’m here.”

“But it could have been!” he said. “My mother could have-I didn’t know you, okay? So I figured I’d just get you to hate me, so I exploded a pudding at you. And it seemed like it worked if I didn’t go messing things up. You  _cursed_  me Lily, and I have never met another girl who would get so angry over the littlest things.”

“Watch it.” said Lily, but there was no bite in her words.

“You’re just-different, Lily. These guys know it too, Sirius would never have tried to reconcile us if he didn’t like you. And Sirius can’t stand girls, not to hang out with. You click with us. And you’re-Merlin.” James ran a hand through his hair, staring at the disappearing stars and the slow pink of dawn. “You’re  _gorgeous_ , and funny, and kind of perfect, and I wasn’t supposed to like you this much. You can’t possibly know how much I fancy you.”

Lily blushed, and she immediately began to stare at her knees. This was not what she was expecting, and her stomach was doing cartwheels.

“And look at this, I really wouldn’t mind marrying you or anything, if that is what my mom had in mind. But I’m being-we all are, actually-really unfair to you. You had no idea, did you?”

She shook her head, her gaze firmly down.

“I thought not. But you were mixed up in all of this and Sirius and Remus knew, they can read me like that, but I didn’t want to involve you. Stupid, considering that this was all about you, but-”

“James.” Lily interrupted softly. She was still staring at her lap. “James, you’re drunk.”

There was something, it was still here, and Lily could feel it now more than ever.

James laughed. “I’m not  _that_  drunk, Lily. Doesn’t change how I feel about you. I shouldn’t have-I really shouldn’t have done this, right?”

She finally looked at him, and her face was all he needed. “Right. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make everything since the day we met awkward. Oh, Merlin, you still have two more weeks here, that’s going to be awful.”

Lily didn’t know what to say. He was still rambling(was this a drunk thing or a confession thing?),and Lily just couldn’t say a word.

The sky was turning pink.

She knew what she felt. She knew with certainty how much she cared for James, but there was the issue of the ‘after’. Lily was a planner, and if she listened to that _something_ , she didn’t know what would happen next. There was her kingdom to consider, and lord, Petunia too. And her studies, and there was so much to think about, and there wasn’t nearly enough time. Deep inside, a decision was already made, but Lily didn’t want to acknowledge it just yet. So she let him talk, talk about how sorry he was and how much he wished he hadn’t drunk half the firewhiskey, and Lily saw the first ray of the sun break over the horizon.

Dawn broke, and Lily made a choice.

She turned and got off her perch on the ledge of the Astronomy Tower, and a regretful James followed her.

“We need to get you back to your room, if they find a girl out with us, especially drunk-”

Lily put her hands on his shoulders, stood on her toes, and kissed him.

He responded immediately, wrapping an arm around her waist so she wouldn’t have to strain so much to reach him, and after a long moment, pulled away sharply. “Lily, you’re drunk, we can’t-”

She kissed him again, smiling. “Don’t care. So are you.”

His hands were cupping her face now, and she felt like that  _something_  had just turned into sparks in her stomach. Oh, she didn’t care if anyone found them like this, she didn’t care about the beating her reputation would take. This was nice. She was going to continue doing this.

If, well, Sirius hadn’t woken up.

“God, what  _time_  is it and why does my head feel like there are house elves embedded in my skull?”

They broke apart, but not before Sirius saw them. A slow grin spread across again, and despite house elves, jumped to his feet and threw an arm around Lily. “Come on then Flower, we got to get you back to your room.”

“Don’t call me that, and I-”

“Nope. No choice here. I can’t leave you alone, can I, Flower? Always getting yourself into some scandalous situations, come one now.”

He ushered her out the tower, but not before sending a genuine smile in James’s direction. Peter woke up with a snort, and James grinned to himself. He would take care of his hungover friends, he would treat his own hangover, and then he’d see Lily again.

And maybe he’d have a chat with his mum.

**Author's Note:**

> God I don't even know if I edited this properly I need sleep  
> Written for jily royalty fest
> 
> I'm bellatrixbtch on tumblr, come say hello!


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